A word from a seminarian

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-343
Author(s):  
Leslie Bowling-Dyer
Keyword(s):  
Beloved Community ◽  
Model Set ◽  
Self Service ◽  
The Church

Philippians 2 calls us to become imitators of Christ by eschewing a brute quest for power and dominance. The model set forth by Christ reminds us that the acquisition, maintenance, and exercise of power cannot be its own end. This “Seminarian’s Word” contemplates what the church can offer a world troubled by self-service, selfishness, and self-aggrandizement if the church truly pursues the Beloved Community.

Brief Introductions to Anglican Theology: Theological Method: Theological Methodology and the Jesus Movement through the Work of F. D. Maurice and Vida Scudder

2020 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-30
Author(s):  
Kelly Brown Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Theological Method ◽  
Episcopal Church ◽  
Jesus Movement ◽  
Beloved Community ◽  
History Of ◽  
Anglican Theology ◽  
George Whitefield ◽  
Theological Methodology ◽  
The Church

The twenty-seventh Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, has called the church over which he presides to become a part of the Jesus Movement. This call raised eyebrows for some, who feared a turn toward a Protestant evangelical tradition reflected in the legacy of people like the eighteenth-century Anglican evangelist George Whitefield. Because the evangelical tradition emphasizes individual salvation, it easily lends itself to a lack of engagement in social justice issues. But this was not the intention of the Presiding Bishop, who urges the church toward the “beloved community.” This essay will examine The Episcopal Church's history of engagement with social justice in light of the theological methodology of F. D. Maurice and Vida Scudder, in an attempt to discern the theological failure that the historical lack of social justice leadership within The Episcopal Church reflects, and which necessitated the Presiding Bishop's call.

scholarly journals Construction of racism: The challenges and opportunities for promoting justice and modeling race-transcending societies

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
Caleb O. Oladipo
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Learned Behavior ◽  
Unfair Advantage ◽  
Beloved Community ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Racist Ideology ◽  
The Church

Racism has no scientific basis or definition. It is a learned behavior that puts one group of people above all others. Racism puts a burden on the society that artificially crafted it, and it suffocates the Church infected by its ideology. The Church can overcome racism by more intentionally creating a beloved community that transcends the pillars that sustain racist theories. Christians and non-Christians are responsible to promote the enduring values that have defined humanity, such as generosity, kindness, perseverance, and humility. Incidental characteristics, such as the color or tone of one’s skin, when highlighted, insidiously give an unfair advantage to one group over another. The psychological damage caused by racist ideology can become inconsequential when the Church takes the risk to become a beacon for the promotion of justice. If the Church fails to overcome racism and neglects the role of becoming the champion of a beloved community and nurturing a race-transcending society, the Church has lost its heritage and its hope.

Arranging the Chairs in the Beloved Community: The Politics, Problems, and Prospects of Multi-Racial Congregations in 1 Corinthians and Today

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 510-528
Author(s):  
Michael J. Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
Social Location ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
1 Corinthians ◽  
Theological Interpretation ◽  
Communal Life ◽  
The Social ◽  
Beloved Community ◽  
White Hegemony ◽  
The Chairs ◽  
The Church

If racism is America’s original sin, it is also one of America’s most pressing contemporary problems. Indeed, Edwards’ recent research suggests that even intentionally multi-racial congregations often reproduce and reinforce white hegemony rather than undermine it. In this article, I first bring Edwards’ sociological research into dialogue with the theological critiques of racism within the ecclesia raised by Jennings and Sanders. I then offer a theological interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:17–12:26 from the social location of American multi-racial churches subject to and complicit with racism for the purpose of those churches’ missional embodiment of an alternative politics. I argue that Paul critiques the church for gathering in ways more Corinthian than Christian. The solution is for the church to rearrange its communal life together in line with the eschatological ‘logic of the cross’. Such a cruciform community affords greater honor within the ecclesia precisely to those who lack it in the broader culture. In the concluding section, I consider how contemporary multi-racial churches might live out this ‘militant, reconciling ecclesiology’ today.

scholarly journals KONCI JANUARI (Suatu Kajian PAK Di Negeri Tomalehu-Timur)

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sors Randi Selano
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Religious Education ◽  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Spiritual Growth ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
The State ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Self Service ◽  
The Church

The aim of the research is to study the konci januari tradition with a study of PAK. Konci januari tradition is one of the traditions that contains values and norms that function to regulate and direct the behavior of individuals and groups in the Tomalehu-East society, these values include the values of solidarity, fellowship, religion, education and respect . Tradition in general is a call, habit and law that places and controls behavior and relationships within the community. While specifically adat is a habit or way of life that has been passed down from the ancestors, this research was conducted with a qualitative research Mapproach. In Tomalehu-Timur country, Manipa Island sub-district with a population of 67 kk and a total of 287 people, consisting of 148 men and 139 women. Christian religious education according to Calvin is fertilizing the minds of believers and their children with the words below the guidance of the holy spirit through a number of learning experiences carried out by the church. So that in themselves produced continuous spiritual growth that is endorsed more deeply through self-service to God the Father of Jesus Christ in the form of acts of love towards each other. Relations or relations that existed after the 1999 conflict between Tomalehu-Timur State and other lands in the Manipa Islands sub-district were considered to be very good up to now due to the frequent activities that involved all elements of both the State staff and traditional figures and religious figures.Keyword: Konci Januari tradition, PAK Values

Spiritual Healing, Sick Kids and the Law: Inequities in the American Healthcare System

2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 269-299
Author(s):  
Janna C. Merrick
Keyword(s):  
Medical Science ◽  
Spiritual Healing ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Divine Love ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Human Need ◽  
East End ◽  
The Church

Main Street in Sarasota, Florida. A high-tech medical arts building rises from the east end, the county's historic three-story courthouse is two blocks to the west and sandwiched in between is the First Church of Christ, Scientist. A verse inscribed on the wall behind the pulpit of the church reads: “Divine Love Always Has Met and Always Will Meet Every Human Need.” This is the church where William and Christine Hermanson worshipped. It is just a few steps away from the courthouse where they were convicted of child abuse and third-degree murder for failing to provide conventional medical care for their seven-year-old daughter.This Article is about the intersection of “divine love” and “the best interests of the child.” It is about a pluralistic society where the dominant culture reveres medical science, but where a religious minority shuns and perhaps fears that same medical science. It is also about the struggle among different religious interests to define the legal rights of the citizenry.

Ideas and Leaders in Contentious Politics: One Parish Priest in El Salvador's Popular Movement

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (01) ◽  
pp. 76-101
Author(s):  
PETER M. SANCHEZ
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Parish Priest ◽  
Historical Moment ◽  
Resource Mobilisation ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis paper examines the actions of one Salvadorean priest – Padre David Rodríguez – in one parish – Tecoluca – to underscore the importance of religious leadership in the rise of El Salvador's contentious political movement that began in the early 1970s, when the guerrilla organisations were only just beginning to develop. Catholic leaders became engaged in promoting contentious politics, however, only after the Church had experienced an ideological conversion, commonly referred to as liberation theology. A focus on one priest, in one parish, allows for generalisation, since scores of priests, nuns and lay workers in El Salvador followed the same injustice frame and tactics that generated extensive political mobilisation throughout the country. While structural conditions, collective action and resource mobilisation are undoubtedly necessary, the case of religious leaders in El Salvador suggests that ideas and leadership are of vital importance for the rise of contentious politics at a particular historical moment.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document